From Virtual Learning Environments to Pervasive Learning Environments Yvan Peter LIFL – Université Lille 1 - France

Mobile Learning Summer School Course objectives Give an idea of the specific issues arising from the design & development of mobile learning Provide example works that illustrate these issues

Mobile Learning Summer School E-Learning Occur through a Virtual Learning Environment or Learning Management System Manages users (course registration…) Provides a structure for courses Gives access to learning resources Can be collaborative or not Collaborative features can be Synchronous (chat, IM, videoconference…) Asynchronous (mail, forums, blogs…)

Mobile Learning Summer School E-Learning Web based system Provides access “anywhere, anytime” LMS & resources target PC platform Known screen size, input and output capabilities Stable connectivity (more or less)

Mobile Learning Summer School E-Learning architecture Multi-tier architecture Presentation layer Data layer Logic layer

Mobile Learning Summer School E-Learning architecture Example with Java technology Presentation layer Data layer Logic layer Servlets JSP Tag libraries Enterprise Java Beans Persistent store e.g., relational database

Mobile Learning Summer School E-Learning architecture

Mobile Learning Summer School Mobile, pervasive, ubiquitous [Lyytinen & Youngjin, 2002] Level of embeddedness Level of mobility Pervasive computing Traditional computing Ubiquitous computing Mobile computing High Low High

Mobile Learning Summer School Mobile, pervasive, ubiquitous [Lyytinen & Youngjin, 2002] Level of embeddedness Level of mobility Pervasive computing Traditional computing Ubiquitous computing Mobile computing High Low High

Mobile Learning Summer School Enabling technologies Smaller (cheaper) and more powerful devices, embedded technology Available anywhere, anytime Wireless networks Enable connectivity in an infrastructure or ad hoc manner Sensors and location awareness Provide context information

Mobile Learning Summer School Elements of design Management & use of context Learning in & across contexts Relation between Devices Tasks / activities Social aspects

Context and its use

Mobile Learning Summer School A few words on context Used to drive adaptation Of resources, activities, interfaces… Context is any information that can be used to characterize the situation of an entity. An entity is a person, place, or object that is considered relevant to the interaction between a user and an application, including the user and applications themselves [Dey, 2001]

Mobile Learning Summer School A few words on context Used to drive adaptation Of resources, activities, interfaces… Context is any information that can be used to characterize the situation of an entity. An entity is a person, place, or object that is considered relevant to the interaction between a user and an application, including the user and applications themselves [Dey, 2001] And/or to the learning experience And also between users through the application

Mobile Learning Summer School Classification by context use [Froehberg, 2006] Context aware systems

Mobile Learning Summer School Sample context aware applications Digital context Virus game [Collela, 2000] Simulates spreading of a virus System is driven by approaching people Savannah Learn to be a lion… Predefined areas trigger events & media

Mobile Learning Summer School Sample context aware applications Physical context Ambient Wood [Harris et al, 2004, Rogers et al, 2005] Environment related access to media Data collection

Mobile Learning Summer School The case of location Location is THE main context of many mobile learning systems Location can be computed in various ways Explicit localisation GPS (outdoor) Triangulation : Wifi spots or cellular network antennas Current cell in cellular network Implicit localisation Any id reading : QR code/datamatrix, RFID Bluetooth detection

Mobile Learning Summer School Reference model for mobile social software [de Jong et al, 2008] Context dimensions

Device aspect

Mobile Learning Summer School Device Aspect The form factor has an impact on the interaction & activity support Weight Screen size Input/output capabilities

Mobile Learning Summer School Device Aspect Device performance and function will also have their importance Processing power Memory Battery life Communication media supported (bluetooth, Wifi, 3G) Sensors : GPS, camera…

Mobile Learning Summer School Wireless communication Personal Area Network (PAN) Local Area Network (LAN) Mobile Phone networks Bluetooth Wifi GSM (low bandwidth) GPRS (medium bandwidth) UMTS (high bandwidth) HSDPA (high bandwidth) ~10 meters range Device discovery ~100 meters range Infrastructure or ad hoc

Technical frameworks

Mobile Learning Summer School Types of technologies Type of client Thin client Through the device’s browser Fat client Requires software deployment Type of communication Client-server Ad hoc / peer-to-peer

Mobile Learning Summer School Thin client Requires A browser on the device Good connectivity Problems Pull mode Historical development of mobile markup Location is not transmitted by the browser Except blackberry

Mobile Learning Summer School Thin client : markup & protocols WAP 1.x & Wireless Markup Language (WML) Imode & CHTML WAP 2.0 & XHTML Mobile Profile

Mobile Learning Summer School Thin client Knowing the device (& the user) CC/PP (Composite Capabilities/Preference Profiles) RDF vocabulary to define Device hardware & software User preferences

Mobile Learning Summer School

Mobile Learning Summer School Thin client Knowing the device (& the user) UAProf (User Agent Profile) Definition of the WAP 2.0 protocol extension to support profile transmission Uses CC/PP vocabulary

Mobile Learning Summer School Thin client Device Context Delivery (DELI) from HP Lab software library to handle CC/PP & UAProf WURLF (Wireless Universal Resource File) Open source project to provide A database of device specifications (XML file) APIs to take advantage of the database PHP, Java, Perl, Ruby, Python

Mobile Learning Summer School Fat client Development depends on the system Problems Needs software deployment Heterogeneity of hardware & software

Mobile Learning Summer School Fat client Development environment.Net Requires Windows mobile (PDA) Java Need a JVM on device FlashLite Needs a player on device

Mobile Learning Summer School Fat client : Java

Mobile Learning Summer School Flash Lite The mobile version of Flash player & development environment Programming language : ActionScript With restricted features compared to PC platform

Mobile Learning Summer School Flash Lite

Mobile Learning Summer School Mobile Widgets Information specific interface to be embedded on the user interface At the time very much tied to the vendor environment

Frameworks & architectures

Mobile Learning Summer School AMULETS project [Skipol et al, 2008] Innovative learning activities Collaborative learning In context Authentic setting (supported by ubiquitous technologies)

Mobile Learning Summer School AMULETS architecture [Skipol et al, 2009]

Mobile Learning Summer School Reference Architecture Reference Architecture for Context- Aware Learning Support Systems [Schmidt, 2008] 6 layers architecture

Mobile Learning Summer School Reference Architecture Interface level context awareness [Schmidt, 2008]

Mobile Learning Summer School Reference Architecture: in use Applied in the Learning in Process project Integration of working and learning on a process level Learning management, knowledge management, human capital management and collaboration solutions on a technical level

Mobile Learning Summer School Reference Architecture: in use [Schmidt, 2008]

Mobile Learning Summer School Reference Architecture: in use [Schmidt, 2008]

Mobile Learning Summer School Mobilearn Next-generation paradigms and interfaces for technology supported learning in a mobile environment exploring the potential of ambient intelligence

Mobile Learning Summer School Mobilearn architecture

Mobile Learning Summer School Open Mobile Application Framework (OMAF) [Dahn, 2003]

Conclusion

Mobile Learning Summer School Maturity is still ahead Heterogeneity of hardware platforms & software environments is a big issue There is no consensus yet on the definition of the relevant services for mobile learning